Lawn Mowing Tips
This article is part of a series on Central Texas Lawn Care. The hub page contains links to articles on fertilizing, landscaping and more.
Lawn Mowing Tips
Mowing your lawn is an important aspect of proper lawn care and mowing correctly can help keep your lawn crisp and healthy. Here are some tips for helping maintain your lawn:
- Don’t mow more than 1/3 the height of the grass. Mowing too deep will actually injure grass. If you have let your grass get too long, cut down a third of the height every few days rather than all at once to avoid damage.
- If you have a mulching lawn mower, leaving the grass clippings on the lawn. It’ll make your shoes more green, but the grass trimmings are mostly water, so leaving them on the lawn will add some moisture to it, which is a helpful way to keep your lawn fresh in the hot Texas summers.
- Keep your blades sharp. Sharp lawn mower blades will ensure a clean cut, whereas dull blades can pull on the grass and cause damage.
- Places like baseball stadiums get the cool pattern look by using a lawn roller. Trying to achieve that look by mowing in interesting patterns (unfortunately) won’t achieve the same effect.
- Don’t mow when the grass is wet: diseases are more likely to be introduced and it makes things more of a hassle to clean up.
- The three most common Texas grasses and their optimal mowing height and info:
Old shoes make excellent mowing footwear. Photo by David Deane
St. Augustine
Height Rance: 2.5-4 inches
Optimal height: 2.5 inches
Mowing Frequency: 5-7 days
Bermudagrass
Height Range: 1-3 inches
Optimal height: 1.5 inches
Mowing Frequency: 3-7 days
Coarse Bladed Zoysia
Height Rance: 1.0-2.5 inches
Optimal height : 1.5
Mowing Frequency: 7-10 days
Image Attribution: Mowing image by David Deane
